Clay spreader



Nov. 23, 1943. F. M. KINNARD ,3

- CLAY SPREADER 7 Filed Aug 56. 1941 2 Street s-Sheet 1 NOV- 23, 1943. KN 2,335,123

CLAY SPREADER Filed Aug. 30, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 23,1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLAY SPREADER Frank M. Kinnard,Sebring, Ohio Application August 30, 1941, Serial No. 408,977

5 Claims.

The invention relates to clay working machinery and particularly to thetype of machines known as spreaders for batting out balls or lumps ofclay into flat disks, known in the potteries as bats, preparatory toplacing the same on a mold where they may be jiggered or otherwiseshaped, as in usual practice.

Clay spreaders of the general character referred to are shown in myprior Letters Patent No. 1,430,309 dated September 26, 1922; No.1,481,913 dated January 29, 1924; No. 1,778,324 dated October 14, 1930and No. 2,167,386 dated July 25, 1939, and the present application ismore especially concerned with certain improvements upon the particulartype of clay spreader disclosed in my prior Letters Patent No. 1,513,602dated October 28, 1924.

One of the greatest difiiculties encountered in the manufacture ofplates, dishes and similar chinaware is what is known in the trade asdrop bottoms. This is a downward curvature of the bottom of a plate orsimilar article, occurring during the drying and firing of the Ware,making it necessary to provide a foot in the form of an annular rib ofconsiderable depth upon the bottom of the plate, to hold the dishedcentral portion of the bottom out of contact with the table, so that theplate will rest flat upon the table.

There are a great many spreaders, made under my above mentioned patents,in use in various potteries throughout the country, and while thesemachines have overcome this objection to some extent they have notentirely eliminated the drop bottoms in ware. the patented Spreaders isprovided with a two or four blade spreading tool, and I have found thisdifiiculty may be completely overcome by providing a spreading toolhaving at least six blades located within a limited angular range.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a clay spreaderhaving a tool provided with at least six angular blades.

Another object is to provide such a tool in which the blades are locatedat not les than fifteen degrees and not more than twenty degrees to thenormal plane of the tool.

A further object is to provide a tool of this character having at leastsix blades located between fifteen and twenty degrees to the normalplane of the tool.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of anovel-Water spray valve for automatically spraying water upon the clayas the tool is moved into contact therewith.

It will be noted that each of 4 Another object is the provision of atool of the character referred to having removable and replaceableblades.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a spreader havingmeans for adjusting the tool for the desired thickness of clay batduring the operation of the machine.

The above objects together with others which will be apparent from thedrawings and following description, or which may be later referred to,may be attained by constructing the improved clay spreader in the mannerillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved clay spreader, showingthe same in the normal or nomoperating position, with the guard platetilted back to show the tool;

Fig. 2, a front elevation of the clay spreader in the same position asshown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a vertical, longitudinal section through the clay spreader inthe same position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4, a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the hinged block moved intooperating position relative to the spreader tool;

Fig. 5, a top plan view of the improved clay spreader in thenon-operating position as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3;

Fig. 6, a detail sectional view showing the novel adjusting means forthe spreader tool;

Fig. 7, a transverse sectional View through one of the wings and bladesof the spreader tool, taken as on the line 1---!, Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8, a longitudinal sectional view through the automatic water sprayvalve.

Similar numerals refer to similar throughout the drawings.

The machine is mounted upon a base comprising the side frames 10,connected together at their front and rear upper corners as by the angleirons II and 12 respectively, and provided at their lower ends with theinturned flanges l3, forming a support for the motor [4, carried upon abracket l5 mounted upon the bars 16 which are connected to the flanges l3.

A housing I! may normally enclose the motor to protect it from particlesof clay which may drop from the machine during the operation thereof.For the purpose of illustration this housing is removed from the motorin Figs. 2, 3 and 4.

A bed plate I8 is mounted upon the top of the side frames l0, andprovided with the spaced uprights 19 and 20, upon the upper ends ofwhich are located the aligned bearings 2| and 22 respectively.

parts Bushings 23 may be located in the bearings 2| and 22, the shaft 24being journaled through said bushings and having its ends extendingbeyond said bearings, as best shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

A pulley. 25 is mounted upon the shaft 24 between the bearings 2| and22, the pulley being preferably slidably keyed upon the shaft so as topermit longitudinal movement of the shaft relative to the pulley. Thismay be accomplished by means of a key 26 fixed within the hub of thepulley and slidable within the longitudinal groove 21 in the shaft.

The pulley 25 is operatively connected to the;

pulley 28 of the motor by means of the belt or belts 29. For the purposeof protecting the operator of the machine a guard 30 may enclose thepulley 25.

The spreader tool forming an important part of the invention includes ahub 31 fixed upon the forward end of the shaft 24- and a plurality ofradial wings 32, formed of wood, metal or other suitable material.

The tools shown in the above mentioned patents are provided with two orfour wings, but I have found that the best results are obtained by usinga tool provided with at least six wings. I prefer to use either six oreight wings upon each tool, and for the purpose of illustration I.

have: shown the tool in the accompanying drawings, provided with sixwings, since this is the smallest number ofwings which will give thedesired result of completely eliminating drop bottoms. in the ware.

This-beneficial result; is probably largely due to the additionalworking of the clay by the larger number of wings on the tool causingthe clay to be compacted more, firmly than was possible-with the olderforms of spreader tools.

As evidence of this, it has been found that plates and; similar wareformed from clay bats made with the improved six or eight wing tool maybe of lighter weight and at the same time considerably straighter thanordinary ware, making it possible to reduce the depth of the "foot onthe bottom of the plate ninety per cent, thus not only. improving thequality and appearance of the ware, but also increasing the capacity ofthe kiln in which the ware is fired.

In case the wings are formed of wood, or the like, as shown in Fig. 7 ofthe drawings, a metal plate 33- may be detachably connected to the rearside of eachrwing, as by screws-34.

. The under side ofeach wing 32-may be bevelled as shown at 35 toreceive the metal blade 3%, which is detachably connected to the wing asby the screws 3'1, whereby the blades may be quickly and easily removedand renewed whenever thesame is n ces ary- As shown inFig. 7, the upperor leading edge of each, blade may extendbeyond the-forward side of, thewing. The best results are obtained with this spreader tool by laterallylocating each blade 36 thereof at an angle of from 15 to 20 to the Inormal plane of the tool. For the purpose of ilbore 39 through which islocated an adjusting screw 48 having a jam nut il for holding the screwin adjusted position.

The end of the adjusting screw contacts the center of the disk 42 whichmay be removably mounted upon the rear end of the shaft 24 as by thescrew 23. A coil spring 44, located around the shaft 24 between the cup45 and the disk 42 normally urges the shaft rearward, holding the disk42 in contact with the adjusting screw.

This permits longitudinal adjustment of the shaft 24, carrying thespreader tool, while the same is rotating, the pulley 25 remaining inthe same position between the bearings 2i and 22 as the key 26 thereonis slidably received in the groove 21 in the shaft.

T bat, is mounted upon a bracket 41, hinged at its forward edge, as at58, to the base, and is provided with the handle 49 for manuallyswinging the block from the non-operating position as shown in Fig. 3,to the operating position shown in Fig. 4, moving the ball of clay intoengagement with the rotating spreader tool which spreads the clay into aflat disk such as the bat shown at B in Fig. l.

For the purpose of balancing the bracket t1 and block it, a pair ofpulleys 5i! may be journaled upon the side plates El, mounted upon thebase members it, chains or other flexible members 52 being connected tothe hinged bracket 51 and located over the pulleys 5E2, counterweig ts53 being suspended from the chains. 7

When the machine is in the non-operating position, as shown in Figs. 1and 3, the hinged bracket ll will rest upon the stop member 54, whichmay be mounted upon the angle iron H.

In order to moisten the ball of clay just prior to the spreading of thesame by the tool, an automatic water spray valveis provided, as shown indetail in Fig. 8. This valve includes the valve casing 55, located inaxial alignment with the hinge pin 48 of the hinged block bracket 4'?and rigidly supported by the bracket arm 56 mounted upon the base of themachine.

A cap 51 is threaded into the outer end of the casing and carries acoupling 58 to which is connected a hose 59 leading from a suitablesource of water. The valve stem til is rotatably mounted within thecentral bore 61- of the valve casing and has one end fixed to theadjacent end of the hinge pin 48.

This connection of the valve stem to the hinge pin is preferablyadjustable inorder to regulate the time at which the water will besprayed upon the clay. For this purpose the outer end of the valve stemis threaded into the end of the hinge pin, as indicated at 62, a jam nut63 being provided for holding the stem in adjusted position,

and an angular pin 64 may be fixed to the valve stem for turning thesame.

The valve casing is provided with a longitudinal port 65, communicatingwith the outlet (36, to which is connected a spray pipe 6!, as by thecoupling 68. The valve member Ed is slidably keyed upon the stem GlLasshown at it, and provided with a port I I adapted to register with theport 65 when the valve stem is rotated to the proper position. A coilspring 12 is interposed between the cap 5'5 and the valve member inorder to urge said valve member into contact with the end wall 13 of thevalve chamber it.

For the purpose of protecting the operator of: the machine fromaccidental contact with the rapidly rotating blades of the spreadertool. a

substantially semi-cylindric guard plate 15 may be detachably connectedto the upper ends of the side plates 51, thus effectively enclosing thetool and the same time leaving the forward side thereof accessible tothe clay upon the hinged block 45.

In the operation of the machine, the spreader tool may rotatecontinuously, and the hinged bracket carrying the block 45 may normallyrest in the lowered position, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5. A ball ofclay, as shown at A in Fig. 2, is placedupon the block 46, and by meansof the handle 69 the bracket 41 is swung upward, moving the block 6-6 tovertical position as shown in Fig. 4, bringing the ball of clay intoengagement with the rotating spreader tool which rapidly forms the clayinto a flat, smooth bat as shown at B in Fig. 4.

The counterweights will hold the block in this position until theoperator moves the same manually back to the lowered position, when theclay bat may be removed and placed on the mold as in usual practice.

It will be apparent that when the block 46 is being raised the valvestem Gil will be rotated within the valve casing 55 and as the valvemember 69 is turned to the position where the port 1 I therein registerswith the port 65, in the casing, water will be sprayed through the pipe61 upon the clay, moistening the same just prior to the time it isbrought into contact with, the sprreader tool.

I claim:

1. A clay spreader including a base, a bearing supported above the base,a horizontal shaft journaled in the bearing and longitudinally movabletherein, a spreader tool fixed upon one end of the shaft, means forrotating the shaft, a block hinged upon the base and arranged to bemoved into vertical position adjacent to the spreader tool, and means atthe other end of the shaft for adjusting the shaft longitudinally in thebearing while the shaft is rotating, so that the spreader tool may beadjusted relative to the vertical position of the block during operationof the tool.

2. A clay spreader including a base, a bearing supported above the base,a horizontal shaft journaled in the bearing and longitudinally movabletherein, a spreader tool fixed upon one end of the shaft, means forrotating the shaft, a block hinged upon the base and arranged to bemoved into vertical position adjacent to the spreader tool, an adjustingscrew contacting the other end of the shaft for adjusting the shaftlongitudinally in the bearing while the shaft is rotating, so that thespreader tool may be adjusted relative to the vertical position of theblock during ation of the tool, and spring means for holding the shaftin contact with the adjusting screw.

3. A clay spreader including a base, a pair of spaced, axially alignedbearings supported above the base, a horizontal shaft journaled in thebearings and longitudinally movable therein, a pulley slidably keyedupon the shaft between said bearings, driving means operativelyconnected to the pulley, a spreader tool operatively connected to oneend of the shaft, means for rotating the shaft, a block hinged upon thebase and arranged to be moved into vertical position adjacent to thespreader tool, and means at the other end of the shaft for adjusting theshaft longitudinally in the bearings while the shaft is rotating, sothat the spreader tool may be adjusted relative to the vertical positionof the block during operation of the tool, while the pulley continues toro- 20 tate in the same lateral position.

4. A clay spreader including a base, a pair of spaced, axially alignedbearings supported above the base, a horizontal shaft journaled in thebearings and longitudinally movable therein, a

25 pulley slidably keyed upon the shaft between said bearings, drivingmeans operatively connected to the pulley, a spreader tool operativelyconnected to one end of the shaft, a block hinged upon the base andarranged to be moved into vertical posi- 0 tion adjacent to the spreadertool, an adjusting screw contacting the other end of the shaft foradjusting the shaft longitudinally in the bearings while the shaft isrotating, so that the spreader tool may be adjusted relative to thevertical posi- 5 tion of the block during operation of the tool whilethe pulley continues to rotate in the same lateral position, and springmeans for holding the shaft in contact with the adjusting screw.

5. A clay spreader including a base, a rotating spreader tool mountedupon a horizontal axis above the base, a block hinged upon the base andarranged to be moved into vertical position adjacent to the spreadertool, a hinge pin movable with the block for connecting the block to thebase, a valve casing rigidly supported upon the base in axial alignmentwith the hinge pin, a water supply pipe connected to the valve casing, avalve stem adjustably connected to the end of the hinge pin androtatable within the valve 50 casing, a spray pipe connected to thevalve casing and a valve member upon the stem within the casing andhaving a port arranged to formcommunication between the water supplypipe and the spray pipe at one position of the hinged block.

FRANK M. KINNARD.

